Efficient Communication in Marketing Survey REPORT
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CONTENTS
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INTRODUCTION
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY AND RESPONDENTS’ PROFILE
KEY FINDINGS
SUMMARY & RECOMMENDATIONS
ABOUT MEDIA & MARKETING SOLUTIONS Media & Marketing Solutions is a division of BiP Solutions. We specialise in driving early engagement and interaction from key stakeholders across the public and private sector. Offering a broad range of managed and measurable digital marketing solutions, we support businesses that are looking for actionable outcomes from their marketing investments, by identifying and qualifying suspects that can be further nurtured into prospects.
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Our portfolio of digital services, including lead generation, research surveys, webinar hosting and event audience generation, is designed to drive inbound enquiries, create content and raise awareness. To find out more, visit www.bipsolutions.com/ products-services/media-marketing-solutions
INTRODUCTION Digital marketing is a rapidly changing field, constantly reshaped by new technologies. New opportunities and ways of working are presented by systems such as marketing automation platforms and more detailed business intelligence systems. However, marketers need to ensure that they have the necessary skills and information to reap the full benefits of such technologies. Without a detailed understanding of the types of data needed, how to handle this data, and how to reshape communication strategies in light of new technologies, marketers may be left behind. However, some working practices remain as effective as in previous years. Although the means by which they are carried out may change, keeping prospect and customer contact data regularly updated, using data to target the most appropriate people, and tracking the results of marketing activity are as important now as they ever have been. Our latest research project, ‘Efficient Communication in Marketing’, looked to understand how digital marketers face both the challenges and opportunities the field currently offers. Our research considered areas such as:
• The centrality of digital marketing to organisations’ overall marketing strategies •
How marketers can target prospects most effectively
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What types of data are most useful to marketers, and how marketers utilise this data
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How organisations track the results of marketing activity
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The effects of recent legislation for marketing
This survey report focuses on the top-line findings of our research project. It also includes some comparison with our previous research project, ‘The Digital Marketing Landscape 2018’, showing how marketing has changed – or not – over the last 12 months, and what opportunities might lie ahead over the coming year.
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RESEARCH METHODOLOGY AND RESPONDENTS’ PROFILE The research compiled in this report sought opinions from people working in marketing-related roles in industries across the UK, to understand in depth how marketers work, what challenges they face and how they understand ‘efficient communication.’ The findings detailed in this report compile the results of two surveys conducted in partnership with Opus: ‘The Data Landscape Survey’, which ran from 31st January to 15th February 2019, and ‘Efficient Communication in Marketing’, which ran from 20th February to 22nd March. The results displayed in this report indicate percentages of the total number of responses to individual questions across both surveys. Survey respondents represent a cross-section of job functions related to marketing activity
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across several industries. While the majority of respondents worked in dedicated Marketing roles, others worked in areas including Strategic Planning, Quality Improvement, Sales, Commercial, Finance and Communications & PR. Respondents represent sectors including Banking, Couriers and Delivery Services, Manufacturing, Insurance, Universities and more. All survey respondents will receive a complimentary copy of this findings report. There was no inducement to take part in the survey. We would like to acknowledge and thank all respondents for participating in our research and sharing their insights.
8%
disagree
KEY FINDINGS DIGITAL MARKETING CANNOT BE TAKEN FOR GRANTED Despite the prevalence of digital technology in every aspect of our lives, digital marketing is by no means the only form of marketing available. This is reflected in the fact that 76% of respondents to our survey agreed or strongly agreed that “digital marketing is the central element of our marketing strategy.” This finding is roughly consistent with our Digital Marketing Landscape 2018 survey, which saw 75% of respondents agree that digital marketing was central to their overall marketing strategy. Those working in digital marketing are not able to assume that the benefits of their work are self-evident, if roughly a quarter of companies do not consider digital marketing to be essential to their work. Digital marketers will have to work efficiently, demonstrating actionable outcomes, to ensure that the value of working digitally is apparent.
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To*11% what extent do you agree neither agree withnor thedisagree following statement: ‘Digital marketing is a central element of our marketing strategy’?
76% agree 24% disagree/ no opinion
DATA REMAINS AS IMPORTANT AS EVER An overwhelming 95% of respondents agreed that “accurate data is important to our marketing activity.” With the rise of new marketing tools such as social media, the types of data marketers can collect and way in which this data is used is undoubtedly changing – but the importance of data remains paramount.
...BUT ENSURING DATA IS ACCURATE CAN PROVE DIFFICULT In spite of recognising the importance of accurate data, less than half – 48% – of organisations stated that they have a regular schedule for updating their CRM data. This could prove problematic, as without regularly making sure that data is as accurate as it can be, organisations cannot guarantee that they are contacting the right people as the market continues to change shape. Surprisingly, precisely the same number of participants – 48% – said that they found updating inaccurate or incomplete data easy. While this is more than the number who stated the opposite – 39% claimed that it was either difficult or very difficult – this means that less than half of organisations surveyed can easily update their data. While 64% of respondents agreed that they were confident in the accuracy of their data, this means that more than a third of respondents either disagreed or didn’t know whether their CRM data is reliable. If data really is seen as central to marketing work – as 95% of respondents agreed – then it needs to be accurate and reliable data.
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3FINDING PROSPECTS IS NOT ALWAYS EASY There was an obvious split among our respondents in terms of how easy they find it to source new prospects. While just over half (52%) said that it was either easy or very easy to find new prospects, 42% stated that it was difficult or very difficult. While every business will look to expand and work with new customers, our figures suggest that a high number of businesses find this to be a real challenge.
THE EFFECTS OF THE GDPR LEGISLATION ARE BEGINNING TO BE FELT Last year’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) legislation may have seemed to threaten many marketing practices – even if only through leaving some organisations unsure as to the full implications of the legislation and what practices were still permitted. Our previous research project, the Digital Marketing Landscape 2018, was conducted shortly after the legislation took effect, and it seemed unclear how the GDPR might affect the marketing industry as a whole. Although 54% of respondents to the Digital Marketing Landscape agreed that the GDPR had affected their work, and only 22% disagreed, possibly the most surprising result was that an unusually high percentage (24%) registered themselves as neither agreeing nor disagreeing. A year on, however, it appears that the ways in which the GDPR have changed working practices has become clear. A lower percentage of respondents – 51% – confirmed that the GDPR has affected their marketing-related work, while 41% – a significantly higher percentage than last year – disagreed, suggesting that the GDPR has not had any significant effect on their work. There’s therefore been a dramatic drop in the number of participants not able to state a position. While it appears that the GDPR is becoming an accepted part of the landscape, and its effects are becoming absorbed by the industry, it’s still the case that over half of respondents felt it has proved problematic for their work.
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The GDPR legislation has affected our marketing activity
3%
strongly disagree
8%
19%
don’t know/ no opinion
22%
strongly agree
disagree
51%
GDPR has affected our marketing activity
41%
GDPR has not affected our marketing activity
24%
32%
neither agree nor disagree
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2019
agree
2018
SEGMENTATION IS NOT BEING USED TO ITS FULL POTENTIAL Segmenting data allows organisations to target contacts more effectively, ensuring that only those organisations or people most likely to be interested or responsive are contacted. Simply sending mass emails to every contact in a database, for example, is likely to be less effective than sending a specificallytargeted message to the people who fulfil the criteria that mean they are most likely to be interested. Segmentation appears to be common practice: only 7% of our participants stated that they could not segment their contact data. However, our results appear to show that the full possibilities of segmentation are not being widely embraced. The most widely-used type of segmentation is by location, with 78% of participants stating that they could segment their audience by this factor, to target prospects or customers in a specific area of the country. In other areas, 69% of respondents said they can segment their contacts by job title, although only 43% can segment by job function. While job titles are a useful way to segment audiences, job function is also an important segmentation tool, as job titles can vary hugely between organisations. Unless a large degree of manual work is involved – which could nullify the very aim of being able to segment data easily by category – it can be difficult to tell from job title alone which contacts work in similar areas. Looking at business verticals instead of horizontals, 61% of respondents can segment the companies they work with by sector, allowing for messages that target specific industries. However, only 30% can segment by organisation turnover. While this may not be an issue for every organisation, many companies will want to ensure they’re dealing with prospects in a particular bracket, as they may not be best-suited to fulfil the needs of organisations that are too big – or too small. Despite the possibility of bespoke types of segmentation that best suit how an organisation works or responds to its customers and to prospects, only 17% of participants said that they can segment their data by categories other than those listed above. Further strategies can be opened up by utilising more than one type of segmentation at once – to target, for example, organisations over a certain size in a certain area of the country. Our results above suggest that, although few marketers are not using segmentation at all, the majority are also not using segmentation to its full potential by measuring against several categories at once.
Q
Can you segment your CRM data for marketing purposes according to the following categories?
78% 69% 43% 61% 30% 17% 7%
location job title job function sector turnover other categories no segmentation
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3TRACKING THE RESULTS OF ACTIVITY IS IMPORTANT, BUT NOT ALWAYS PRACTISED
79% adapt their marketing strategy
Tracking the results of marketing activity is key if marketers are to show their actions are effective. To have true oversight of whether marketing activity is achieving the desired results, marketers need to be able to report accurately on every stage of their activity. Tracking results is clearly perceived to be important, as 79% of respondents confirmed that they adapt their marketing strategy in response to tracking the results of activity. This agile working strategy means that tactics that are not working can be changed, to ensure that marketing work is as effective as possible and delivers the results needed.
Email marketing in particular is comprehensively measured, with 78% of respondents tracking the delivery rates of emails, and 83% measuring the number of clicks of links embedded in emails received. Websites are similarly monitored, with 83% of participants measuring the most-visited pages on their sites and 70% tracking the length of time visitors spent on websites. Social media was measured by fewer people, although still tracked by the majority of participants. Perhaps surprisingly, a greater number of respondents measure interaction with social media posts (70%) than measure the number of views or impressions of social media posts (66%). Although views might be easier to measure, interactions with posts – for example sharing and clicking through links – indicates a higher level of interest than views alone, which may be measured automatically and cannot really indicate the extent to which a ‘viewer’ has taken in the message. An area of greater concern is content, with 59% of participants stating that they measure the views of video content and only 53% confirming that they measure the views or downloads of non-video content. This appears to contradict the fact that elsewhere, 76% of participants agreed with the statement that “We can ensure our marketing content is widely seen.” Without accurately tracking the number of views or downloads of marketing content, it’s difficult for marketers to know for certain that their content is being seen. After all, even the best content is of little importance if no-one ever sees it. Most surprisingly of all, less than half of organisations – 44% – that participated in our research can say whether marketing offers a return on investment (ROI). This is potentially a major issue for marketers – indeed, for their companies as a whole. Without knowing whether the results of marketing activity translate to revenue, it’s difficult to know whether marketing work is effective, and what value – if any – marketing actually provides.
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Q
Thinking about tracking the outcomes of marketing activity, which of the following do you capture data on?
78% 83% 83% 59% 53% 70% 66% 70% 44% 4%
email delivery rates clicks on links in emails the most visited pages on your site views of video content views or downloads of non-video content the length of time visitors spend on your site the number of views of social media posts interaction with social media posts ROI of marketing activity none of the above
POTENTIAL USES OF DATA REMAIN RELATIVELY UNEXPLORED Combining various types of data can allow marketers to be far more specific and efficient in their communications. For example, by being aware of both the sector a prospect works in, and what content they have previously interacted with, you can ensure you’re sending them content they’re more likely to be interested in. This need not mean extra work for marketers – in fact it can boost efficiency. 73% of participants in our research stated that they can personalise communications. Studies have shown that people are more likely to interact with communications directly addressed to them, so this practice will increase the efficacy of marketing work. However, when it comes to tracking the outcomes of marketing activity, and then implementing that data into future strategy, practices differ. While 63% of marketers can track which individuals have engaged with a specific piece of content – allowing for more granular information than the ‘raw data’ of numbers of views alone – only 37% are then able to offer targeted content to prospects based on what they had previously interacted with. The continued rise of marketing automation platforms may begin to change these figures – but capturing detailed data counts for little if it is not integrated into marketing practices and activity.
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SUMMARY & RECOMMENDATIONS Our research project demonstrates that those working in digital marketing cannot be complacent about the efficiency and effectiveness of their working methods. Around a quarter of respondents to our research survey do not see digital marketing as the key element of their overall marketing strategy. While this may seem a surprising result in light of how thoroughly digital working has permeated every aspect of contemporary life, it means that digital marketers need to prove the worth of working digitally. The value of digital work, in terms of cost-effectiveness, reach, ease and the ability to gain more information on who interacts with marketing content, needs to be demonstrated clearly – and this can only happen through detailed tracking of results. Unfortunately, such tracking does not happen as widely as might be expected. The fact that less than half of organisations track the ROI of marketing activity is a real area of concern. Without being able to demonstrate that money spent on marketing generates revenue, marketing budgets are hard to justify. While it is encouraging that engagement with email marketing and websites seem to be widely measured, more needs to be done in terms of tracking social media and especially content marketing. Content is often one of the most labour-intensive areas of marketing work, and so it is more important to prove that work in this area actually delivers results. Tracking results and compiling information
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on interactions is only helpful, however, if marketers are able to react to the results they find and to use them effectively. A clear majority of respondents agreed that they adapt their marketing strategy in light of results, indicating that the industry seeks to be responsive and is not keen to continue with practices that are no longer working. Work remains to be done, however, in terms of integrating the results of marketing activity fully into marketing practices – for example, by combining CRM data with data on interactions to target prospects with content that will be best suited to them. Organisations need to take their CRM data seriously and ensure that they are capturing as much data as possible. While the vast majority of respondents agree that accurate data is central to their marketing work, organisations need to ensure that this becomes practice rather than just theory. A surprisingly high number of companies are not confident in the reliability of their own data, and even fewer ensure that such data is regularly updated. Without accurate information on customers and prospects, businesses cannot ensure that they are contacting the right people or organisations. This is even before looking at the potential for targeted communications that break down audiences by sector, job title and so on. Without segmentation, organisations cannot guarantee they are speaking to the right people – and segmentation is only possible with detailed, granular, accurate contact data. Marketing is becoming ever more complex. With the potential for prospects to be targeted
automatically through a combination of information on what content they have interacted with and their professional status and interests, ‘one-size-fits-all’ marketing content is no longer sufficient. Organisations need to ensure they are collating as much data as possible – and using it. At Media & Marketing Solutions, we offer a number of solutions tailored to the issues your organisation faces, building on our specialised contact communities. All our data communities consist of granular, highly detailed contact details, updated daily. We can target audiences by sector, job function, company turnover and many more factors. Drawing on our communities, we offer solutions ranging from promoting your content to a wide but precisely-targeted audience via direct email, to building audiences for events and conducting research surveys. We can help get your message in front of the most qualified prospects.
Our dedicated, purpose-built email client ensures high levels of deliverability, and allows for full tracking of open rates, links clicked and downloads. We help you efficiently generate actionable outcomes.
For more information on the range of solutions offered by Media & Marketing Solutions, give us a call on 0845 557 1324 or email mms@bipsolutions.com.
Our contact communities include: •
Ingenium, containing every senior decision-maker working in the UK public sector
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Opus, the premier UK enterprise contact database
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Construction Online, in existence for over 20 years
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Defence Online, one of the fastest- growing online defence communities
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Health Online (launching soon), bringing together buyers and suppliers from throughout UK healthcare
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T: 0845 557 1324 E: mms@bipsolutions.com W: www.bipsolutions.com